The Great War of 2283
by Blue-Jaye.Fevre
Summary: Edith Hale unites the Capital Wasteland with wits, negotiation, and sheer forces of will. House unites the Mojave with biological weapons and mind control. When an old enemy steals the Platinum Chip and delivers it to the newly crowned Edith, House finds himself ordering a massive invasion of post-war DC, renamed the Confederacy of New Columbia. Rated T for violence, language.


It begins with Edith Hale shutting down the ZAX computer known as John Henry Eden.

It's the first time that her plans have come together and then does she watch her plans start to come to fruition.

Autumn stands there, looking at the malfunctioning console that was his President; he looks towards the woman who has assassinated his sworn leader.

"At this precise moment Autumn, you have two choices. The first is what you were going to do: Flee from Raven Rock and amass your forces on the purifier. Your walls will dissipate, your armies with break and you will be executed without the pretext of mercy or respect. Your memory will scatter to the winds like the ashes of the pre-war civility. In short, you will prolong your war only to cement your defeat."

Autumn has his hand on his weapon. He doesn't know if he can draw quick enough to kill the undefeated amazon before him.

"Or you can live to see the rebirth of civilization. A true nation, brought together by the reconstruction of a past thought to be extinct. And if you remove your hand from your holster long enough to listen you may find yourself in agreement."

It is at that moment that Augustus knows he has been beaten, and that an open mind is better than extermination.

"I'm listening. What do you propose?"

Edith's lips curl into a smile. Another gear falls into place.

* * *

Elder Lyons is harder to convince.

"Allying ourselves with the Enclave?! After the damage they have wrought? The _lives_ they have taken in the name of their vision! Surely you cannot be serious?"

"The old boss is dead; meet the new one standing before you. Tell me Lyons, what do you want your legacy of this wasteland to be? A blood stain on the ground perhaps? Or would you rather be remembered as the man who helped bring order to the wastes? Truly, which do you find preferable?"

He clings to his ideals, and she quietly destroys each argument he brings forward. Soon he is left with the same ultimatum afforded to the General: Destruction or salvation.

He chooses the latter, and not without mixed feelings.

* * *

With the two strongest powers at her disposal, Edith gathers her followers and leads the charge in the purging of the threats of the wasteland:

The National Archives are cleared of super mutants; The Museum of Technology soon follows. Super Mutants in the Red Racer Factory and in Falls Church are eliminated next.

The wasteland soon learns to rejoice in the sound of the Vertibirds instead of vehemently fearing their approach.

Megaton bows first, followed by Big Town. Canterbury Commons, Arefu and Meresti all join the support of the new champion of the wastes.

Edith's support of the ghouls of Underworld is what initially causes rifts within the organization, but the dissent is quelled when Edith's newfound allies begin to clear out the tunnels of their feral brethren, station by station.

Individuals like Reilly and Agatha, touched by the wanderer's support lend their voices to her cause.

Edith is on hand when The Rivet City Council pledges fealty to the Champion of DC. Her army swells. Her detractors grow quieter. Change is coming, hard and fast to the wasteland.

Oasis joins next, and its Branchtenders use their gentle touches to herd the beasts of the wastes into domestication. Mole Rats become livestock and dogs become companions and even the ferocious Yao Guai become great tanks of war.

Edith approaches Alistair Tenpenny with an offer: A promise of control in her new order for his allegiance. He greedily accepts, growing truly faithful when factories and plants begin to generate revenue for both him and Hale.

Edith buys the Talon Company from under Jabsco. She implements policy changes and hangs several dozen mercenaries before they get the message.

Slavery becomes the newest problem in her order. As the slavers and ex-slaves gear up for battle, Edith meets with each of the leaders to find a middle ground. Eulogy Jones is made an offer that would make him rich without even trying. Hannibal Hamlin is given assurances that the innocent will not be punished. In one swoop Edith gains two more allies and virtually rids herself of her raider problem.

The decision inadvertently gives her an ally in the town of Little Lamplight, where the returned child slaves speak of a beautiful woman who broke their shackles. Mayor Macready gives her admittance and within a week the children have submitted to her demands. The passage into Vault 87 for her forces proves to be hard won fight with many consequences, but ultimately proves to be a rousing victory.

An army well and truly assembled, Edith conquers the Capitol building, slaying the Mutant Behemoth within and purging the Capitol of all super mutants.

The other factions of the Capital Wasteland take notice. Edith brings Andale, Girdershade and the Brotherhood Outcasts under her banner next. The Outcasts prove to be prickly, but are won over by Edith's promises of technology and their place in her grand plans.

The Republic of Dave initially resists but relents under both pressure and threat of pure annihilation.

The oddities are left: Mother Curie III loses her faith but not her religion in the face of Edith's diplomacy; Button Gwinnett is outfitted with the remains of Eden's hard drive, giving him true AI.

The war is not without its losses: The Regulators deny Edith's requests. The scavenger's fight for their independence and many Raiders unite in the face of their extinction. Edith extinguishes them all. The Raiders are reduced to shades of their former selves: Occupying territory deemed unnecessary to Edith and living off of the unforgiving land in a vain effort to survive, knowing that the first act of pillaging will lead to their enslavement.

The scavenger's fight at first, but many find profit and safety in joining communities and abandoning their independence.

And the bodies of Sonora Cruz and her hundred or so comrades are hanged from the Washington Bridge for over a year as testament to the iron will of Edith Hale.

Soon the only force of both sentience and opposition remains the home vault of 101. Edith's terms are simple, eloquent and without alternative. Alphonse accepts and retains his position.

Edith gathers the leaders of her army together in the atrium of the Capitol Building. Her closest advisor and comrade, The Super-Mutant Fawkes, places an iron crown upon her head and she proclaims herself Edith, First of her name and sovereign ruler of the Confederacy of New Columbia.

The present bow, some out of awe, others out of preservation; some do it willingly, others with held tongues. Many are exuberant, while others are frightened.

Only one feels regret. The once grand General, whose promise to another President has been shattered by the woman standing before him. With tears in his eyes, Autumn lets go of the last embers of America, and embraces the future.

* * *

Edith makes three trips in the days following her coronation.

The first is east, on a metro line to the Air Force Base of Adams, where Enclave loyalists have activated a Bradley-Hercules satellite and have subsequently destroyed Liberty Prime during an assault on the Behemoth of Jury Street. The base is cleanly captured, the officers are executed and the soldiers are pardoned. Edith acquires nearly seventy Vertibirds, bringing her fleet to well over a hundred.

The Second is to the North, following the trail of slaves that Eulogy has delivered to the enigmatic Master of The Pitt. Edith accepts his independence with surprising ease, but hammers out an agreement: In exchange for slaves, Ashur will aid no enemy of New Columbia, and supply the state with ammunition from its foundries. Midea and current Pitt slaves are freed and made to watch over their new charges. Wernhur is brought from the north to act as Ashur's ambassador.

The Third and final trip takes Edith south to the uncharted land of Point Lookout. Edith's arrival intersects with a longstanding rivalry between the devious Professor Calvert and the cunning Desmond Lockheart. Edith removes Desmond from the situation entirely, offering him technological gains and a seat at her personal table in return for his skills, loyalty, and a promise to leave behind Point Lookout forever. He accepts with minimal fuss, and a similar agreement is struck with Point Lookout. Nadine becomes Wernhur's equivalent and Calvert's mental domination of Point Lookout yields entire crops of Punga Fruit and hundreds of captured specimens.

Edith returns to New Columbia and forms the Confederate Congress of Columbia. Representatives from the twenty-three towns and factions are selected and brought forward to serve in the congress. Autumn's Enclave and the Brotherhood are effectively merged into a singular army, which he is then given control of, with oversight from Queen Edith. Elder Lyons becomes the head of the Congress.

Complaints and ideas are suggested and debated, reparations around the wasteland begin. Deathclaws are captured and tamed. Raider nests diminish by the month. Ghouls flock to Underworld and its' population booms.

The factories are purged, renovated and become once again operational. Alistair Tenpenny oversees Industry and profit with a managerial hand that surprises no one, but a softer kindness that leaves everyone dumbfounded.

And the waters of the Potomac flow clean, all thanks to the Queen of New Columbia.

For six years a peace is built and forged through the once ruins of pre-war Washington.

* * *

In the west things come together far more quickly. In 2278, the Overseer of the Strip makes his move.

Robert House, never a man to lack control, develops a waterborne pathogen and introduces it into Lake Mead. Affecting FEV mutant, human and ghoul alike, House utilizes his Securitrons to spread the virus to the furthest corners of the Mojave.

After two months of planning and waiting, two months of infighting and needless casualties, two months of saturation, House broadcasts a signal from the top of the Lucky 38.

Within three days, every Man, Sentient Ghoul has abandoned their posts and is gathered around the outskirts of New Vegas as House announces his new nation: The Western Collective of New Vegas.

Aaron Kimball loses the following election, and suddenly, the Mojave no longer holds any appeal to the severely crippled New California Republic. Its military might sapped, its power cut off, and its leadership compromised, the NCR enters a new era of isolationism, closing its borders and retreating into itself.

The WCNV enters into a new age of prosperity. There are no conflicting opinions or conflicts, because everything is done in service to Mister House.

The tribes retain their personalities, and their customs at the expense of their free will.

The few who can see over the wall of illusion don't seem to care. Life under House is better, easier and worth the cost of independence.

* * *

It is a busy night on the Strip, no different than any other when it happens:

An explosion on the Strip distracts the guards, claiming over fifty lives. The perpetrators aren't watching from the ground.

They break into the building through the ventilation, and they reach the Penthouse before House's systems detect them.

There are three of them. One is a man, older but still spry. He is a quick, and a sure shot.

The Second is a woman, lithe and silent. She disables three Securitrons without them even knowing.

The Third man simply activates House's console and takes the Platinum chip, the item he slew four couriers to acquire.

The sixth courier gives him a dismissive wave and strolls out of the building with his companions, back into the vents and out onto the rooftop, where they evade his signals and scans.

* * *

He spends weeks tearing apart the wasteland, trying to find any clues as to the whereabouts of the treasonous villains. Eventually he picks up on their trail: Footage of a boat leaving to the East through Lake Mead.

He receives a message two weeks later from a RobCo pip-boy. A picture is the correct definition.

It is of a hand holding the Platinum Chip between its thumb and forefinger, with a distinctive tower rising out in the background. It's been ages since House has seen the landmark, but he recognizes it with clarity.

The source of his upgrades and processing power is currently left in the ruins of Washington DC.

Another message is left as an audio file.

"I've walked many roads of the new world and the old, and this is the furthest east I have treaded. Iron fist, old man, phantom of the life before. Will you come and claim your bounty here, in the east? The Rising Sun has reforged the old world in the shape of the new. The Queen has your bounty. Will you roll the dice and reclaim your hard won prize?"

The words are metallic and grating, steel scraping against steel. He recognizes the taunting in the Courier's voice.

Robert Edwin House is assured of one thing at the exact moment in time: He will raze this Columbia to its' foundations until he finds what has been taken from him, and there will be no respite for any who stand it his way.

* * *

**Hello readers! I love both recent Bethesda Fallout games with a strong passion, but I also love grand battles on massive scales. So, my gift to you is this: An east vs. west styled showdown where everyone in one game is stuck fighting everyone in the other game. I've created setups for both versions (East invades west; west invades east) and I found this one to be far more interesting and logical. Leaps in some canon are going to be made early on (Most notably the question of how House moves nearly 100k in military personnel from one side of the war-torn and ravaged US to the other) but things will settle into an awesome pace in a couple quick expository chapters. **

**Expect lots of battles and independent fights between badasses, not to mention dropped names and game references :D**

**Enjoy! Drop me a line if you have comments or questions, and please review! ;)**


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